The nationwide gasoline shortage has caused a considerable amount of activity in siphoning gasoline from one automobile tank to another. Consequently, there has been a run on local stores to buy lengths of plastic tubing for that purpose. There has also been an increased run to hospitals for many who have inhaled or have swallowed gasoline after using their mouth to evacuate the tubing to start the siphoning action. Gasoline in the mouth may cause discomfort or burns; swallowed gasoline is extremely serious; inhaled gasoline sometimes causes critical conditions. Either inhaling or swallowing gasoline may cause fatalities. Many of the people who borrow or transfer gas from car to car or from tank to tank are young, dynamic people who are strong and healthy and who have sufficiently strong lungs to start the siphoning action. It is precisely those people that eschew difficult-to-use transfer equipment because of impatience or for other reasons. It is precisely those people which are most fearless and least concerned about health problems, since often they have none. Usually those people are not aware of the extremely high risks that are taken by starting siphoning action by mouth.
There are many siphoning devices on the market, and many siphoning devices have been invented. Many marketed devices are constructed of thin, inexpensive plastic and require continuous squeezing of a bulb to transport fuel from one point to another. The devices are not positive in action and are fragile and tend to tire the hand of the user.
A collection of prior art siphoning devices is found in Class 137, fluid handling, of the Official Classification of the United States Patents. In that class, and particularly in the siphon subclasses, beginning with subclass 123, are found United States Patents officially classified there as well as United States Patents unofficially collected by examiners and publications and foreign patents collected by examiners.
Examples of patents which are found in those subclasses are: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,440,706; 108,087; 201,746; 135,935; 2,830,608; 108,652; 919,079; 958,415; 11,867; 2,233,123 and 3,588,293.
Many of the patents have pumps at the outlet end of siphons; however, these pumps are constructed to permit a continual flow through the pump base as the siphon drains the higher level chamber. Examples of such devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,440,706 with a laterally connected pump, U.S. Pat. No. 108,087 with a laterally connected pump having a plunger parallel to the siphon, U.S. Pat. No. 201,746 with a similar pump and U.S. Pat. No. 135,935 with a pump connected in the flow line.
None of those patents suggest the siphon and pump combination of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,830,608 and 108,652 were selected as examples of pumps on the inlet side of siphons.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 919,079 and 958,415 were selected as examples of siphons operated by pulling a plunger through an elongated portion of the siphon tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 11,867 describes a similar type device in which the fluid flow is started by sliding a cylinder outward.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,123 shows a combination of the two previous types of siphon starters.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,588,293 is an example of a recent siphon patent.
No reference suggested connecting a siphon starting pump with a short length of tubing which could be pulled from the main siphon tube after the flow was started.